The inaugural meeting of the Cell Calcium Signaling Academic Subgroup of the Biophysical Society of China (BSC) was held in Changsha, Hunan province, on July 21. 

Zhang Hong, vice-president and secretary-general of the BSC, delivers a speech at the inaugural meeting. [Photo/WeChat account: BSC] 

Zhang Hong, vice-president and secretary-general of the society, warmly congratulated the founding of the subgroup and hoped that it will promote exchanges and development in China’s calcium signaling research through academic conferences, popular science activities and workshops. 

Cheng Heping, discoverer of calcium sparks, recipient of the prestigious Shizhang Bei Outstanding Contribution Award and initiator of the Cell Calcium Signaling Subgroup, and Zhou Zhuan, a professor from Peking University who has long been an advocate for academic exchanges in China's calcium signaling field, were elected as honorary presidents of the subgroup. 

Cheng Heping, honorary president of the BSC Cell Calcium Signaling Academic Subgroup, speaks at the meeting. [Photo/WeChat account: BSC] 

In his speech, Cheng expressed his wishes for the subgroup’s continuous growth, and that it will contribute to solving significant issues in life science and public health. 

An academic symposium on "Calcium Signaling and Cellular Function Regulation" was held subsequent to the inaugural ceremony. 

The symposium featured a keynote presentation given by Yan Ning, founding president of the Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation and director of the Shenzhen Bay Laboratory. Yan elucidated the dynamic changes in channel structure involved in the activation and inactivation of voltage-gated calcium and sodium channels, and drug effects, proposing new mechanisms of channel regulation. 

Xu Haoxin, dean of the School of Basic Medical Sciences at Zhejiang University, and professor Cui Zongjie from Beijing Normal University, provided insight into lysosomal calcium signaling transduction mechanisms and physiological functions and reviewed Xue Shaobai's original research on calcium signaling in the Golgi apparatus.

Participating scholars of the symposium pose for a commemorative photo. [Photo/WeChat account: BSC] 

The symposium also included invited presentations and spotlight reports on such topics as the activation and regulation mechanisms of key proteins in calcium signaling pathways and structural foundations, exploration of the development and mechanisms of lead compounds, and applications of calcium signal detection tools.